Data-Labor-Technology

The 75th Annual Golden Globe Awards on NBC tallied more than 24 times the total interactions on Facebook and Twitter of any other TV series or special for the week of Jan. 1. According to the Nielsen Social Content Ratings, Sunday night’s event totaled 13.203 million interactions across the two social networks. USA Network’s WWE…

IPG Mediabrands culturally-driven media agency Initiative hired Pele Cortizo-Burgess as chief strategy officer for the United States, effective immediately. Cortizo-Burgess will lead a team of 20 strategists, work across Initiative’s client roster and report directly to Initiative’s U.S. CEO Amy Armstrong. “It’s rare to find a strategic talent who offers both creative chops and technical…

The Consumer Electronics Show has introduced a slew of new voice-powered devices, with Google and Amazon leading the way. The spread of Alexa and Google Assistant puts Microsoft’s Cortana in a particularly uncomfortable position, one where even the Windows PC isn’t safe from other companies’ encroachment. The lesson is clear: The most successful digital assistants…

The University of Alabama’s thrilling 26-23 overtime victory over the University of Georgia in the College Football Playoff National Championship game Monday night had Twitter abuzz. The game-winning touchdown pass from Crimson Tide quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to wide receiver DeVonta Smith generated 54,000 tweets per minute. It was followed by Alabama kicker Andy Pappanastos’ missed…

State Farm is in the process of consolidating the majority of its marketing business with Omnicom, according to several parties with direct knowledge of the matter. “State Farm works with many vendors to provide solutions to meet our customers’ needs,” said a company spokesperson regarding its agency roster. “Those relationships continue to evolve and are…

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Hulu closed 2017 on a high note. Hulu’s advertising revenue crossed $1 billion for the first time in 2017, the company revealed Tuesday. Underpinning its ad momentum was the growth of Hulu’s subscriber base, which increased 40% year over year from 12 million paid subscribers in 2016 to 17 million in 2017. Those figures include… Continue reading »

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It’s been 33 years since World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) brought a million viewers ringside with its inaugural pay-per-view event, Wrestlemania. Today, the entertainment company is bringing you inside the ring through a virtual reality partnership with NextVR, a VR company that broadcasts live events, such as NBA and NFL games, and concerts. Put on a…

It’s finally done. Without much in the way of fanfare, and just in time for CES 2018, one of the TV industry’s most challenging obstacles has been cleared: consumers have mastered the art of accessing the wealth of content sitting behind the notorious “input button.” According to recent streaming meter data from my company, Nielsen,…

This week, The Atlantic magazine’s 5-year-old creative consulting service, Atlantic Media Strategies, has rebranded as Atlantic 57. The move, which looks to establish a more fitting identity for a 21st-century marketing partner, comes complete with a revamped online hub. The new, more concise and contemporary brand name aims to better highlight the group’s work and…

Facebook really wants Watch to work — and it trotted out one of the biggest stars in Hollywood during CES to show how committed the company is to its latest video initiative.

Fidji Simo, Facebook’s vp of product in charge of its video business, was joined on stage by actress Kerry Washington, who is producing one of Facebook’s first scripted series for Watch. Called “Five Points,” the short-form drama tells the story of five high school students in Chicago who witness a traumatic experience. Funded by and exclusive to Facebook, the show is produced by Washington’s production company Simpson Street and digital studio Indigenous Media.

Most of Simo and Washington’s conversation centered around “Five Points” and how Facebook envisions Watch as a place to combine original programming with social conversations about the content.

For instance, “Five Points,” which will focus heavily on LGBTQ and other social justice issues, will create custom Facebook groups around those issues so viewers can have conversations about the show and those topics before, during and after new episodes are released. The producers behind “Five Points” also plan to create custom profiles for characters to get audiences to interact with them, said Washington.

“I’m excited to be on the Facebook Watch platform because I wouldn’t want to put this piece out in the world without creating a space where discussion can live,” Washington said.

It’s a key point that Facebook itself has been making with Watch partners. Just like Facebook Live, Watch was developed as a way to get Facebook users to spend more time on Facebook. If Facebook can fund projects that also drive people to interact with others on the platform more, it’s a clear win for the company’s video plans.

Granted, away from the stage, there is plenty of skepticism among media companies that Facebook Watch will work. As several Watch partners have expressed in the past — and reiterated during CES — only a fraction of Facebook users are actually going to Watch. Most of the viewing still happens inside the news feed.

By bringing out a star such as Washington, Facebook was demonstrating that it remains committed to making its latest video initiative work.

“We have to make [Watch] work for our partners,” Simo said. “Obviously, there’s the creative angle, but there’s also the economic angle. We are committed to working with partners to make these shows work economically as well.”

One thing to look out for — and one thing two publishers privately expressed to Digiday — how Facebook defines partners going forward. “Five Points” is produced by two entertainment studios. As Facebook looks for bigger entertainment projects, it might leave out traditional publishers that it has previously paid in the past for content.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if they go entirely direct and just buy content from producers,” said one publishing exec.

Meanwhile, when asked if they see Facebook and Watch as a legitimate threat, a YouTube exec also attending Facebook’s session very diplomatically said, “You gotta start somewhere.”

The post ‘We have to make it work for our partners’: Facebook’s Fidji Simo on Watch appeared first on Digiday.